Workers loading shoes in Indonesian Factory. 2007 Photographer: Crack Palinggi/Landov

As the world’s largest sporting-goods maker, Nike Inc. is raising the bar for doing business with them.  By the year 2020, all manufacturing factories working with Nike Inc. will need to adhere to Nike’s new labor and sustainability standards if they wish to continue the working relationship.

In a company statement released today, Nike unveiled its Manufacturing Index which includes a new factory rating system.  This index raises labor and environmental performance up to the traditional supply chain measurements of quality, cost, and on-time delivery.  This shows that Nike realizes that human rights and environmental issues have become as important as the more traditional metrics.

Another point of interest, Nike has launched an interactive web experience for the consumer to learn how a Nike product is conceived, moves through the supply chain, and finds life after it is “worn out” for its original purpose.  I found the short video clips here very interesting and recommend them to all of my readers.  Did you know that Nike recycles old athletic shoes, competitors as well as their own, into playground surfaces among other things?  This is just one of the informative bits of knowledge I gained from investing under 10 minutes.  Go ahead, take a look.

Fairwear until next time…….